A record 61 million immigrants and their American-born children now live in the United States — including an estimated 15.7 million who live here illegally, an analysis of Census data shows.
The pro-immigration control
Center for Immigration Studies analysis released Monday finds that 45.3 million legally reside in the United States.
The center's director, Steven Camarota, reports the analysis of the Census Current Population Survey and other data also estimates there are 15.7 million illegal immigrants.
"Our best estimate is that in 2015 there were 5.1 million children with at least one illegal immigrant parent," he writes.
"Taken together, the best available evidence indicates that there were a total of 15.7 million illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children in the adjusted December 2015 CPS, accounting for 25.7 percent of the 61 million immigrants and their children in the country."
The figures were broken down by state, with Camarota calling the rise of immigrants and their children from 1970 to 2015 "nothing short of astonishing."
For example, the analysis finds the immigrant population:
- In Georgia grew 3,058 percent, from 55,000 to 1.75 million — 25 times faster than the overall state population.
- In Nevada grew 3,002 percent, from 26,000 to 821,000 — six times faster than the overall state population.
- In North Carolina grew 2,937 percent, from 47,000 to 1.43 million — 30 times faster than the overall state population.
"These numbers raise profound questions that are seldom even asked: What number of immigrants can be assimilated?" Camarota writes in the analysis.
"What is the absorption capacity of our schools, health care system, infrastructure, and labor market? What is the effect on the environment and quality of life from significantly increasing the nation's population density?"
According to the Center's analysis, nearly one of every five U.S. residents are immigrants.
"The number of immigrants and their young children grew six times faster than the nation's total population from 1970 to 2015 — 353 percent vs. 59 percent," Camarota writes.
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